Arcadia Gays: Between the Lines
by Exiled Immortal
Summary: A spinoff of PriestessAmy's Arcadia Gays series, written with her permission. In a timeline where everyone survived, Chloe, Max, Victoria, and Kate are involved in a four way polyamorous relationship. These are the moments the main series skipped; a little less fluff and a little more drama. Chapter 2: Chloe has her own guilt issues to deal with where Kate is concerned. Kate helps.
1. Unfinished Buisness

AN: So I initially approached PriestessAmy with this Victoria/Chloe concept hoping that she would write it herself as part of her charming Arcadia Gays series. She very sweetly turned me down, explaining that she's most comfortable writing pure drama-free fluff, but she was nice enough to give me her blessing for a spinoff set within her universe. All credit and praise for Arcadia Gays goes to her.

I'm titling this story Between the Lines because I'm interested in the moments that the main Arcadia Gays stories don't show; the rough patches, the arguments, the heavier themes. It's not going to be grim and dark, far from it, but I'm aiming for a bit more of a mature flavor. I'm not sure if this will ever be more than a one shot, but the format leaves the possibility wide open. If you have any great ideas along those lines feel free to mention them in your reviews.

For anyone unfamiliar with Arcadia Gays, it's set in a timeline where everyone survived and life at Blackwell continues as usual. Chloe, Max, Kate, and Victoria become involved in a four way polyamorous relationship, the story of which is told in Arcadia Gays: Beginnings.

* * *

Victoria folded her arms under her breasts and pouted, slouching slightly as she surveyed the piles of garbage that made up the landscape of American Rust.

"When you said you wanted to take me somewhere special this wasn't quite what I had in mind, Price."

Chloe let out a bark of laughter. Unlike Victoria, who couldn't have looked more out of place with her designer clothes and perfect makeup, the punk rocker was dressed for the post-apocalypse and seemed fully at home amid the wrecks and ruins. This wasn't Victoria's first time at the junkyard, but she had only come once before with the Vortex Club, and that had been at night. The ambience had been a little different when everyone was doing hard drugs around an illegal bonfire in the dark.

"Alright, so maybe it's not a five star restaurant," Chloe admitted. "But it's my home away from hell. This was where I came whenever I wanted to get away from life… which was most of the time. We can get up to all sorts of trouble here and no one will care."

"Oh? And what sort of trouble did you have in mind?"

In response Chloe unslung a drawstring bag from her shoulder and opened it with a flourish, revealing a six pack of beer and a bag of weed. The corner of Victoria's lips curled upwards.

"I hope you didn't forget the cigarellos."

Chloe grinned. "What do you take me for?"

"A gorgeous woman, Chloe Price. I'll do the honors."

With practiced skill, Victoria rolled the bunts with such perfect size and shape that even Chloe seemed impressed. This was one of the few things that the pair shared exclusively within their little love polygon; Max would smoke with them from time to time but everyone could tell it wasn't her favorite thing, and Kate flat out refused to touch the stuff. That meant that Victoria and Chloe ended up going without weed more often than not, unless it was just the two of them.

Thirty minutes later the pair were both dancing on the hood of an abandoned car, whooping and hollering between drags. Loud music belted out from Chloe's truck. It really felt good to let their inner party animals out every once in a while. Chloe kicked one of the empty bottles they had finished and watched it sail over a wrecked boat, shattering somewhere out of sight. Victoria cheered.

"Alright, let's not kill my car battery," Chloe said at last. "It's too beautiful to die."

Chloe hopped down and went to switch off the radio. Victoria sat and dangled her legs off the side of the hood as she watched the blue-haired girl go. Chloe had only had a couple beers; today she had actually volunteered to be the designated driver rather than make Victoria rock paper scissors for it. For some reason Chloe was being more yielding than usual. Victoria would be lying if she said she didn't like it.

"So, why did you bring me here Price?" Victoria asked as Chloe returned. "It's been fun and all, but this clearly isn't just about getting drunk and high together. We could do that anywhere."

Chloe smiled as she took a seat next to Victoria. "I wanted to take you somewhere that meant something to me. I've only ever come here with people I trust. Welcome to the club."

Victoria felt a rush of warmth inside her, like hot chocolate on a snowy day.

"That's… really sweet of you," Victoria said. "I've never heard Max say anything about this. Is this where the two of you disappear to on your dates?"

Chloe hesitated at that. "No. We came here a couple times together, but Max… She has some pretty bad memories of this place. I don't even know all the details, but it was all because of some shit I dragged her into, once upon a time. My fault."

"Are you talking about…?"

"Yeah. The Jefferson thing."

Victoria didn't know what to say to that. Everyone knew that Chloe and Max had been involved in the incident that had exposed Mark Jefferson, but they never brought it up and Kate and Victoria never pressed for details. Victoria _had_ asked Nathan about it the one time she visited him in prison, but he would barely say a word to her. That had hurt, if Victoria was being honest with herself.

It hurt now, to think that Chloe couldn't share everything with her.

"You know, coming back here is a little weird for me too," Chloe continued, oblivious to Victoria's angst. "This was where they tried to hide Rachel's body at first. Just dumped her in a shallow grave, like she was garbage. This was our hideout and they buried her here. God, it was so fucked up."

On some conscious level Victoria knew that she was supposed to be supportive of her girlfriend right about now, but Chloe's mention of Rachel Amber opened old wounds. Deep wounds. Victoria had hated Rachel, not just because Rachel always knew what to say to shut her down and embarrass her, but because of how inadequate and inferior she always made Victoria feel. Of course Victoria was aware that Chloe had been close with Rachel; most of their class knew Chloe as "Rachel's punk friend" if they knew her at all, but until now Victoria had never really given their relationship much thought.

Chloe lay on her back with her hands folded under her head as she stared up at the sky. There was something in her voice, in her eyes, that Victoria recognized from their most tender moments with each other and Max and Kate. She swallowed and asked the question that was tormenting her.

"You loved her, didn't you? With a capital L."

The blue-haired girl turned her face away at that, and Victoria felt her heart clench.

"We were more than friends," Chloe admitted. "At least, I thought we were. Turns out she kept a few secrets from me, but… I would never have made it without her. Before Max showed up again, before you and Kate came into our lives, it was Rachel who saved me first."

Victoria felt her hurt turn to bitterness as she pictured herself as nothing more than a consolation prize, an afterthought in Chloe's eyes. Rachel Amber was a hard act to follow. How could Victoria possibly match up to that? Max at least had Rachel's strength and devil-may-care attitude towards life. Kate had the grace and kindness.

Where did that leave Victoria? Mean, insecure Victoria. The monster.

Maybe she'd had too much to drink, but it was too late now; Victoria's thoughts were running away from her and towards a dark place. Any hope that she had been sharing something special with Chloe was gone, replaced by the certainty that Victoria was just a bargain basement stand-in for a dead girl she wasn't even allowed to hate anymore.

"I think I've had enough of this place." Victoria got up to leave.

Chloe sat up and stared, looking surprised and hurt. "What's wrong, Tori?"

"Nothing. Glad I could fill in for Rachel Amber for a day."

For a moment Chloe still seemed confused. Then confusion turned to anger. Chloe sprang up after Victoria and grabbed her shoulder. When Victoria shrugged the hand off, Chloe shoved her up against a broken refrigerator and held her firmly in place. Outraged, Victoria was about to push back when she saw the look in Chloe's eyes. That icy fury froze her in her tracks.

"I thought this wasn't who you were anymore! I thought I saw the real you on Halloween, that you meant it when you said you wanted to fix things!" Chloe raged. "I brought you here because I trusted you! Christ, I knew you didn't get along with Rachel, Rachel mentioned you often enough, but I _never once_ held that against you! I assumed that, like any decent person, you would've gotten over your petty school bullshit when you found out that Rachel was _fucking murdered_!"

Victoria was speechless. "I… I…"

"Yeah, I hella loved Rachel. Still do. Yeah, we might've fucked a few times. Is that what's got your panties in a twist? You don't want to touch anything she's already had? Are you really that terrible of a person? Was I wrong about you, Chase? Tell me the truth, you owe me that much!"

At last Victoria realized how shitty she was being, and how all of this must look to Chloe. Tears sprang to her eyes as she began nodding miserably.

"I _am_ a terrible person, Chloe," Victoria sobbed. "I was g-g-glad when Rachel disappeared. I knew it was so wrong but in my heart I was glad. I used to tear down those posters you spent all that time putting up. I would take them back to my room and write… terrible things on them. I convinced myself that I hated Rachel, just like I tried to hate Max, all because I was jealous of them. Chloe, _I almost killed Kate_. I just stood there and filmed it while Max went up to that roof to save her. God. I'm no better than Nathan. I-I-I'm such a piece of shit."

Chloe released her grip and took a step back, looking a little stunned as Victoria began to break down.

"I know I'm not as good as Rachel, not as good as Max or Kate. I know I'm lucky that you would even look twice at me after everything I've done." Victoria shut her eyes but the tears kept coming. "It just tears me up inside to know that you've been surrounded by such amazing people, and then there's me, who no one would c-care about if my family didn't have m-money. You have every right to hate me, Chloe. You should hate me. I hate myself!"

All at once Chloe was hugging her tight, stroking the back of her head, heedless of Victoria's tears and snot as they soaked into Chloe's shirt. Victoria let all thought and feeling leave her body as her sobs turned to sniffles and eventually subsided. When Chloe at last drew away, she looked at Victoria with that warm smile that always made her heart flutter.

"I'm sorry, Tori," Chloe said. "I thought you were still mad at Rachel for stupid shit. I should've known that you were just mad at yourself, also for stupid shit. I hella jumped to conclusions and didn't see how much you were hurting. But babe, it's not a contest. Not with Rachel, not with Max or Kate. I love you all. I love _you_ , Victoria Chase."

Chloe kissed her then, as if to illustrate the point. Victoria melted into the embrace, tentatively at first, but then hungrily. When they broke apart there was a burning need in Victoria's eyes, something intense and yet passive at the same time. Chloe had seen that look before, but never on Victoria.

"Punish me," Victoria whispered. "Just this once. I need this. Please."

Seeing how sincere and desperate Victoria was, Chloe scooped her up without a word, bridal style, and carried her over to the waiting truck. A moment later the driver's side door slammed shut. There was, blessedly, no one else in the junkyard to hear the creaking of the old vehicle or Victoria's muffled cries from within.

They really could get up to all sorts of trouble here.

* * *

It was a couple hours later when Chloe and Victoria pulled up to the gates of the Arcadia Bay cemetery. Both of them were still flushed and a little out of breath. Victoria shifted uncomfortably in her seat; her rump was still a little sore. Chloe, who had a golden opportunity to tease or gloat, instead looked at the younger girl with concern, as if she was afraid she might have gone too far.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?"

Victoria shook her head. "Thanks, but no. This is between her and me. It's our unfinished business."

"Alright. I'll be right here when you're done."

The gravestone was unremarkable in appearance, and yet to Victoria it loomed larger than life. Even in death Rachel Amber had a way of making her lost for words. The sun was beginning to creep towards the horizon, and the long shadows and total silence weren't making this any easier. At last Victoria cleared her throat and spoke.

"Hello Rachel. I'm sorry I missed the funeral, but I don't think anyone wanted me there anyway." Victoria let the words spill out. "I'm sure you didn't take it personally. I think that's what I was always jealous of the most, how you never let anything get to you. My life would be so much easier if I could just… not care. Instead everything eats at me, and I act like such a bitch to hide it, and that only causes me more grief in the end."

Victoria hugged her shoulders and lowered her head as a chill wind blew through the cemetery.

"I don't know what you would've thought of me and Chloe and the others. I have no right to ask your approval, but I just wanted you to know that I'm going to be good to Chloe. I'm still learning how, but if there's anything good left in me, it belongs to her and the others. This isn't for you. It's because Chloe is amazing and deserves it. That's all."

As Victoria looked up she spotted a doe staring at her from behind a nearby tree. Their eyes met for a moment. Then the animal turned and trotted off into the woods. Victoria inhaled and realized that her heart suddenly felt ten times lighter.

Rejoining Chloe in the truck, it was like their little fight had never happened. Chloe asked no questions, started the engine immediately, and they drove off with smiles on their faces. In no time at all they were joking and laughing with each other all over again.

"So what do you think Max and Kate are up to right now?" Chloe teased.

"Psh, do you even have to ask?" Victoria playfully slapped Chloe's shoulder. "Don't be naïve. Kate totally has a wild side that she's too shy to show around us. It's so obvious. I bet Max knows all about it by now."

"Oh yeah? Watch out, Chase. I might just take you up on that!"


	2. The Call

AN: And we're back with another chapter. This one is about Chloe and Kate and the thin plot threads that connected them in the game, which I have to believe would come into play at some point if they ever were involved in a relationship. Victoria isn't the only one issues in this department.

Note that these stories don't follow any sort of chronological progression. I write them where they need to be. If you've read the mainline Arcadia Gays series you can probably figure out where everything fits; I'm doing my best to reference both the game and the Arcadia Gays continuity.

This will likely be the last story for a while, unless people really want me to continue. I do have a vague Max/Victoria concept but it'd take some work to develop it. Please do let me know what you think!

* * *

The Two Whales diner. It feels like Chloe has been here a thousand times before, and right now she wishes that she was anywhere else. She watches as a familiar scene plays out. A phone is ringing. The buzzing ringtone sounds both faraway and loud all at once, reverberating inside Chloe's head like a jackhammer.

"Don't even answer," she hears herself say. "We got places to go and people to do… Come on, before mom starts some more shit. Let's bail."

 _No. No, you idiot. You don't know what you're asking._

Max looks up at her with a worried expression. "It's Kate Marsh, from Blackwell…"

 _Ignore her, Max. Be the better and stronger person like you always are. You always are._

"Big whoop. You don't call me once in five years and now you're all over some beeatch you see every day at school? I see how you roll. So go ahead, chat up Kate Marsh from Blackwell. I've got other people to hang out with too."

 _Liar! Asshole!_

This time Max doesn't brush her off. This time Max visibly wilts under her hostility; she stands there helplessly until the phone goes silent. Chloe feels like a bully. Chloe wants to scream. Instead she has to watch herself smirk in satisfaction. Being able to guilt trip Max makes her feel special, makes her feel loved, and she's owed that for a change, isn't she? Who cares about some bitch at Blackwell that she's never met? Chloe deserves Max more than anyone else.

"I feel bad about Kate," Max confides on their way out.

Chloe sighs in exasperation. "She'll survive you not taking that one call."

 _Wait! Don't go!_

They walk out of the diner as the scene burns away like so much film. Chloe reaches for their retreating forms, tries to call out to them, but she's just a spectator here. A ghost.

There is a rooftop now. Chloe recognizes it from her brief time at Blackwell, and all the times she's visited since then. She remembers sneaking up here to smoke weed with Rachel. The memory playing out now, however, is not hers. She wasn't here for this. She couldn't have been here for this. She never saw Kate Marsh on that ledge, her beautiful face red from crying, her spirit broken.

"Kate, your life is still yours. And we can get through this together," Max pleads. "Let me help. Like I helped by erasing all that crap people wrote on your room slate…"

"Thanks for that," Kate says coldly, "but I needed you more when I called to actually talk. That's when I needed a friend."

 _This isn't right. This isn't how it went. Max told me. She wouldn't lie._

Max looks stricken. "I was with Chloe and she was having a serious problem too. I'm sorry."

 _Oh Max, that's not true. I was just being possessive, and needy, and, and such a fucking child._

"Apparently her problem is worse than mine. So why even bother with me? I'm done anyway."

Kate pivots and turns. Then she falls, like an angel.

 _No!_

The Arcadia Bay cemetery. The name on the tombstone before them pierces Chloe's heart. Max is crying, blaming herself, and that's _bullshit_ but Chloe finds that she can't tell her so. The guilt has turned her tongue to lead and everything is wrong and this _can't be happening_ —

With a gasp Chloe awoke in a cold sweat, breathing heavily. Max stirred besides her, mumbling in her sleep. Victoria had an arm draped across the hipster girl and was actually drooling a bit. Neither of them showed any signs of waking. Her heart still hammering in her chest, Chloe looked around for the one person she desperately needed to see right now. She found Kate curled up on the edge of the bed, slumbering peacefully. Chloe let herself breathe at last and brought a hand to her chest in relief.

Kate was okay. Of course she was. Max had answered that phone, and she and Chloe had visited Kate in the hospital together that week. Well, Max had done the visiting. Chloe had just stewed in her own guilt and shame outside the door, too much of a fucking coward to go in and apologize herself.

Running a frustrated hand through her hair, Chloe slipped out of bed and over to the window, which she pried open for some fresh air. Reaching for a cigarette, she didn't even realize that her hands were shaking until the damn thing wouldn't light properly.

Fuck. That dream had been about as bad as they had ever been. Chloe had been having the nightmares on and off ever since that awful week; she still wasn't sure if it was just regular trauma or some side effect of Max dragging them back through time together. Chloe had never talked about it with the others, not even with Max, who she knew had it much worse than her. Compared to the way Max was suffering, Chloe just didn't think she had any right to complain. Max would be hella pissed if Chloe said that aloud, of course, which was a big part of why Chloe kept her silence.

The best therapy would probably be to make amends, Chloe decided. She took a drag on her cigarette and began to put her mind to work on ways she could make it up to Kate.

* * *

Over the next week Chloe made herself the captain of the Marshfield ship, booking them tables at the fanciest tea houses in the city, surprising them with tickets to the Seattle Symphony, making sure that they were placed closest to each other whenever the four of them cuddled up on the couch for a movie. Her modest savings took a beating but Chloe refused to ask Victoria for help; this was her penance, and she was determined to take sole responsibility.

It wasn't easy to watch Kate and Max spend so much time together without her, but it was the most fitting solution that Chloe could think of. In many ways Max was the most precious thing that Chloe could share with Kate, and it was her own childish possessiveness, her onetime need to monopolize Max, which had almost helped drive Kate off that ledge. Learning to let go, learning to trust and share, was probably healthy for her. It wasn't about punishment. At least that's what she told herself.

Max made sure she still spent some time with Chloe and Victoria, which was a comfort beyond belief, but Chloe laughed off all her questions about setting her up with Kate. Kate, meanwhile, gave Chloe some curious looks but otherwise said nothing. The fact that the two were so clearly enjoying their extra private time made the whole thing easier for Chloe. Chloe knew that Max would never truly abandon her for anyone, and she really did love Kate in her own right, so she just grit her teeth and pressed on with her mission to be as selfless as possible.

One day Kate came up to her after dinner. "Chloe, I was wondering if you'd like to do something together this weekend—"

"Funny you should ask! I got you and Max a reservation at Altura. It's supposed to be amazing, you guys are going to love it. My treat."

"Oh." Kate looked disappointed for some reason. "Thanks Chloe. You've just been so good to us lately that I felt bad that we haven't been including you."

"Don't be stupid, I'm happy if you're happy! Go out and have fun!"

Chloe flashed a smile that she hoped wouldn't look too forced. Kate returned it hesitantly, but there was confusion and maybe a little hurt in her eyes. Suddenly feeling awkward, Chloe excused herself and locked herself inside the sanctuary of her room. Hella lame, but how the hell was she supposed to explain all of her messed up feelings to Kate? Max and Chloe had only recently dumped the whole time travel thing on Victoria and Kate. It wouldn't be fair for her to burden Kate even more. Chloe sighed and opened her drawer, reaching for one of the joints she kept there for emergencies.

A few minutes later her phone began to ring.

Exhaling smoke in frustration, Chloe was about to shut the damn thing off when she saw who the caller was: Kate Marsh. Her body went rigid. She couldn't deal with this right now, she was too stressed, she was too unprepared, she was too high! The ringtone went on, heedless of her paralysis. Realizing that the call was about to go to voicemail, Chloe panicked and snapped into action.

"Hello?"

"Hi Chloe. I thought I'd call you since it didn't seem like you wanted to talk face to face."

"I'm sorry Kate. My bad, really. I wasn't trying to avoid you on purpose."

"Really?" Kate sounded relieved. "Oh, well that's good, because I kind of wanted to ask you something."

"You can ask me anything."

"Do you not… _like_ me anymore?"

Chloe nearly fell out of her chair. "What?! Why would you even think something like that, Kate?"

"I'm sorry! It's just, you've been trying to get me to spend all my time with Max lately and I can't help but feel like it's because you don't want to spend time with me."

Chloe slapped her face and groaned. Of course her attempt to fix things would only mess them up even further; that was just her luck, wasn't it? The luck of a girl who died half a dozen times in a week. Kate remained silent on the other end, waiting for an explanation. Chloe sighed. Fuck it. There was no getting around this one.

"That's not true, Kate. I think I might've been an idiot and gave you the wrong idea. Listen, there's something I need to tell you, something that Max left out of her story last time. That… that day you were on the rooftop, do you remember making a call to Max?"

Kate listened patiently as Chloe told her everything. The unwittingly cruel words Chloe had spoken in the diner, the way she had blown up at Max over it, the hospital visit where Chloe had waited outside the door feeling terrible about herself. The nightmares. The secret fear Chloe harbored, that somewhere, in some timeline out there in the ether, her nightmares were real.

It was the first time Chloe had ever opened up about any of that.

When she was finished, Kate spoke softly. "You're more like Victoria than you think, Chloe. You two won't forgive yourselves, even when you know that I will."

"I probably should've just been straight with you from the beginning. Like I said, I'm an idiot."

"I think you're being really hard on yourself, Chloe. I never would've wanted you to hurt like this because of me. It's so sweet that you've been trying to make up for it by sharing Max, but Chloe," Kate's voice sounded very small all of a sudden, "I would've been just as happy if you shared more of yourself. When I made that call I was desperate for someone to care about me and Max happened to be the only one I could reach out to. These days I rely just as much on you, and Victoria. And I want you to rely on me too."

There was a soft knock at the door. After a moment of hesitation, Chloe ended the call and walked over to turn the knob. Kate entered and pulled the taller girl into a hug before standing on her tiptoes to kiss her. Chloe wrapped her arms around Kate and returned the embrace as the phone slipped from her fingers and clattered to the floor.

She was feeling better already.


End file.
